Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $55.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MEOH. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.63.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $34.34 on Tuesday. Methanex has a 1 year low of $33.97 and a 1 year high of $56.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.19.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 4.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Methanex by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,840 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,952 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Methanex by 64.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 8,047 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Methanex by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation produces and supplies methanol in China, Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, Canada, and Asia. The company also purchases methanol produced by others under methanol offtake contracts and on the spot market. In addition, it owns and leases storage and terminal facilities.